Improvement in panning-mills



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN MUMMA, OF MIDDLETOWN, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN FANNING-MILLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 55,526, dated June 12, 1866.

To all 'whom it may concern y Be it known that I, JOHN MUMMA, of Middletown, in the county of Butler, in the State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvelnents in Fanning Mills; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure I is a top view without the hopper. Fig. II is a side elevation of my improved fanning-mill with a part of the casing broken away. Fig. III is a screen, with spring clamp.

hooks attached, by which an adjustable board may be attached to the screen.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of several operative devices for more efcien tly cleaning grain and separating seeds, as will be hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, A denotes the frame, and B the casing, which parts are constructed in the usual manner. O is a removable side board, constituting a part of the hopper. D is the front board of the hopper, and E is the adjustable rear board of the hopper. F is the shoe. H is the fan-shaft. I is the crank-driving wheel 5 J the spur-pinion on the fan-shaft. K is the tappet-shaft to actnate the shoe laterally, and L is the tappet on shaft K. M is the pulley on shaft I), actuated by band, a, through the medium of fanshaft H. N is a pulley on the end of shaft I), which communicates motion to shaft Q by band or cord b. The shaft Q, is armed with teeth d, which serve to feed the grain from the hopper to the shoe F. The shaft or roller P is furnished with cams S at each side of the casing, which, by the revolutions of this shaft, strike the inner end of the shoe at f, causing the shoe to oscillate horizontally. The cam S on shaft I), near pulley M, as it revolves, also strikes against the top side of arm c, which is connected to rock-shaft It, and shaft It is journaled in the sides of the shoe F. This shaft R is shown in dotted lines in the drawings, and the spiral spring g is fastened to the under side of rockshaft It, and serves to counteract the movements of the shoe and rock-sh aft,produced by the action of cams S on both the shoe and rock-shaft. The fingers c, over which the grain, chaff, and seed pass from the hopper to the shoe, are fastened to rock-shaft l, and its action, produced by cam S and spring g, gives to the iingers c a verticallywibrating motion.

The shoe F is suspended between the millcasings from each of its corners by wires, one of which is seen in Fig. II at la, and lateral motion is communicated to the shoe by the revolutions of longitudinal shaft K, which is furnished at its rear end with a double-tapering cam, L, which strikes againsta hinged adjustable block, 4f., on the side of the shoe, and more or less motion is given to the shoe laterally by adjusting the hinged block 4 between the shoe and the tapering double cam L. The motion of the shoe given by cam L is reacted by the spring t, fastened to the frame on the opposite side of the machine. The movement of the shoe laterally is regulated by the adjustable hinged block et upon the shoe, against which the cam L works; and thelongitudinal movement or vibrations of the shoe may be increased or diminished by means of the adjusting-shaft T, which is provided with arms mf, with staples n, through which the suspensionwires 71, pass, and the wires h are attached to the ends of the removable hopper-boards O, as seen in the drawings. The adjustable hopperboard E is provided with two cords near its ends, which pass through and around. the roller or shaft U.v These cords are connected to the board E, near its top and bottom, (one of which may be seen at p, Fig. II,) and by rotating shaft U, around which the cords p pass, the hopper-board may be adjusted to any desired heightfor the passage of the grain to be cleaned. The rollers T and U are journaled on the crank-wheel side of the machine in adjustable blocks V IV, which are fastened to the sides of one of the frame-pieces, A, by a bolt and thumb-screw, r, and in the framepiece or post A, underneath the plate s, there is a mortise in which is inserted a block of india-rubber, and the rollers T and U are brought into contact with the rubber block, so as to produce any desired degree of friction between the block of india-rubber and the rollers, by ad j usting the thumb-screw r. This friction upon these rollers will cause them to remain Xed for the time being in any position to which they may be adjusted by hand, the roller T serving to regulate the longitudinal action of the shoe, and the rollerU to adjust and retain the sliding hopper-board E, as before stated. At the tail end of the shoe two vertical strips of metal are fastened, through which one or more rods of met-alpass', with thumb-screws at one side of the shoe. The object of these rods and thumb-screws is to fasten the sieves and screens in any desired position.

To prevent jarring, noise, and wear by the action of the shoe, I have placed blocks of india-rubber, adjustable in boxes, beneath the buttons y on each sids of the machine, and opposite the inner end of the shoe, so as to prevent the shoe from striking against the side ofthe casing of the mill. These rubbery blocks are capable of adjustment by set-screws z, and may be so adjusted as to limit the action of *the shoe at its inner end to a very slight oscillation.

a'- is a rock-shaft adjustable in its journals, and supported or-held in position by a frictionblock oi' india-rubber in contact with its journal and under plate b. The shaft a' is furnished with the deflecting-board c', which extends across -the mill between the side casings and in rear-.of the fan; and above the adjustable Adeecting-board c', and also extending across the mill in like manner, there Ais astationary` curved detlecting-board or sheetof metal,f. The end ofthe rock-shafta extending outside of the casing has a handle or tixed wrench, d', by which the adjustable board c' -may be adjusted to any desired angle in relation to the direction given the blast-of airfronrthe action of the fans c. The fans are secured to-.the arms g', which are bolted to disks h4 on pinion-shaft-H.

When the mill is in use the screen t7, with the removable extension-board k', may be placed ina position corresponding with the red line Z/in Fig. II, and the several screens and sieves may be adjusted in the shoe to suit the different kinds of-work. In Fig. I one of the side boards C of the hopper is not removed. Fig. III represents one of the sieves with a sheet-metal drawer beneath it.- In using sieves with this drawer for separating grain they will occupy the position indicated by the red dotted lines at O in Fig. II. The drawer will be open at the rear and front ends to admit the passage of a portion of the blast of air from the fan between the sieve and drawer. The grain which falls through the sieve will, instead of falling thence directly down onto the screen, be carried back to the rear end of the shoe, and then fall upon the screen t', (dotted line,) and gently roll along the screen, which will separate the cockle and smaller'seeds from the wheat or other grain.

Screens of different kinds will `be used, according tothe kinds of grain and seeds to be separated. When sand or seed is to be separated from grain a liner sieve will be used than that for wheat, and it will be providedA with a drawer under it, closed around its edges, except at one of the rear corners of the drawer, which will have a suitable mouth or spout to conduct the seed or sand through the opening 2 in the side of the shoe. This drawer will incline laterally, so as to cause its contents to be easily discharged and fall into a suitable vessel on the ground.

In chafn g grain the detlecting-board c should be so adjusted as to cause the blast or current of air to strike the grain and chaff mostly during the time it is falling from the hopper-bottom to the sieve, as this will cause the chaff to be separated and carried out of the shoe without falling upon and clogging the action of the sieve.

In the construction of my mill I have provided means for separating smut from wheat, or different kinds of grain of equal or nearly equal size, such as cannot be eifectually separated by screens from each other, but differ in weight. To accomplish this very desirable resultthe detlecting-board c must be so adjusted :as to concentrate the blast upon the falling grain, and the shoe maybe divested of sieves and remain stationary, which latter effect will be accomplished by removing the hinged block 4 away from the action of the cam L, and by adjusting the roller T, which will actuate the arms m, and through them the wires h, and draw the shoe out of contact with the cams S on shaft P. The screen and drawer shown in Fig. III will be reversed in position with the drawer extended out behind the sieve, but the two will be held together by the spring-clamps 3, and .will occupy the position in the shoe indicated by the red line Z,'or a more elevated place in the shoe. The mill, when so adjusted to separate grain, Ste., by difference in gravity, will necessarily require a rapid revolution of the fanv to produce sufficient blast to carry the lighter grain or smut, Sto., over the end of the extension-board or reversed drawer at the tail of the mill, while the heavier grain will strike against this board and fall down and be discharged at the front of the mill.

The large size of the hopper, extending, as it does, from side to side ot' the mill, affords greater advantages, especially in ch affmg grain. The'arrangement ofthe side pieces, C, so as to be easily removed will give easy access to the inside of the mill.

Another advantage peculiar to my improved mill is the curved fans, which greatly assist in gathering the air and concentrating and giving power to the blast. The shoe, also, is of a width correspon din g with the enlarged width of the hopper.

It will be observed from the foregoing description that the movements of the shoe are easily modified by the adjustments designed to regulate its action to suit the different kinds of work to be accomplished.

In using my mill the operator will first adjust the shoe that it may have a motion of suitable degree for the kind of work to be done, and will adjust the hopper-board by means of the roller T to discharge the proper quantity. The delecting-board will also be adjusted as has been before described, when the mill will be ready for operation, the necessary screens being in place and the bands or cords on their proper pulleys.

The grain to be cleaned will be fed from the hopper by the'revolutions of the toothed roller Q, and pass over thefin gers c, which are caused to vibrate by the action of the cam S on the top of the arm e, which is connected with rockshaft It 5 and as the grain and cha pass over the fingers e and fall upon the sieve, the blast from the fans e', being directed by the deflecting-boards e and f is broughtin contact therewith, and, together with the aid of the sieves, screens, and agitation of the shoe, causes a complete separation of the various kinds of grain or seeds 4from the chaff' and other im pure and extraneous matter.

It should not be omitted in the description to state that the sides of the shoe at the inner end arel connected by a series of wire rods, upon which the ends of the sieves will rest for support.

Having fully described my invention and the manner of using it, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Constructing the fans e with curved ends for gathering the air and concentrating the blast, in the manner described.

2. The detlecting-board c', upon adjustable shaft a', arranged so as to be set and retained in any desired position by means of the exterior handle, d', in the manner and for the purpose described.

3. The combination of the toothed feeding roll Q with the hopper, arranged and operated as described.

4. Shaft R and ngers c, Vibrated by the arm e and cam. S, in the manner and for the purpose described.

5. The shoe F, in combination with spring g and cams S on shaft P, operating in the manner and for the purpose described.

6. The combination of the doublet-apering tappet or cam L With adjusting-block 4 and spring t', in the manner and for the purpose specied.

7. The adjusting-roll T, arms m, and staples ing-rod and thumb-screw for securing the sieves and screens, in the manner substantially as described.

l0. The arrangement of the india-rubber blocks in the sides of the casing B, adjustable by set-screws z, to regulate the vibrations of the shoe and obviate Wear and noise in running the mill, as specied.

l1. The combination of the shoe F, rockshaft R, cams S, and spring g, with their connecting and regulating mechanism, operating substantially as set forth,for the purpose specied. f

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of February, 1866.

- JOHN MUMMA. Witnesses: A

H. P. K. PECK, D. H. PEcK. 

